The Challenge
Legacy system limitations
When a large global insurer sought opportunities for growth, it realized its existing payment systems needed replacement.
The company was intent on making new acquisitions, embarking on joint ventures, reinvesting in its core business and returning capital to shareholders. But legacy payment processes and systems were costly, error-prone and were an impediment to optimizing cash flows because the company did not have global visibility.
The company wanted to centralize risk management and compliance, but it had multiple systems and banking portals for payments.
In addition, the insurer faced difficulties establishing connectivity with its banking partners. It had to manage and maintain multiple versions of bank-specific EDI 820 maps, which required a major resource commitment. It was also faced with inconsistent entitlement, audit, controls and procedures in place across various entities.
Furthermore, the company’s legacy systems had functionality limitations including difficulty supporting new formats and multi-currency payments and a lack of integration between the multiple claims and administrative systems. The insurer had ambitious plans but realized it was critical to modernize and address the limitations of its payments infrastructure.
Key objectives
Discover how Bottomline was able to help
Consolidating payment platforms
The insurer consulted with Bottomline to assess its needs. It decided to implement WebSeries, an enterprise payments platform, which enabled it to retire numerous legacy applications. The solution brought a standardized architecture that facilitated the transition away from proprietary and inflexible mainframe applications.
Working with Bottomline, the company obtained a platform that was highly configurable and required minimal customization.
Scalability to support growth
Relying on Bottomline Technologies’ WebSeries payment hub and SWIFT service bureau to improve access to liquidity and support its growth strategy and shareholder goals, the insurer is on track to meet the objectives it laid out in its multi-year plan.
The insurer also plans to expand the payment hub’s capabilities further by building on its relationship with Bottomline and further integrate associated legacy systems.
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A modern payments infrastructure to support global operations
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Real-time visibility into global cash positions
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The ability to meet ever-changing regulatory demands
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Increased labor efficiencies
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Eliminated costs associated with legacy applications
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Security and control across all payment processes
“We are working towards our payments vision. We now provide full payment support for more and more lines of business. We’ve reduced operational costs by reducing check payments and increasing the volume of secure, electronic payments. And we’ve reduced bank fees by standardizing connectivity via SWIFT while attaining greater visibility into our global cash position to improve cash management.”
Treasury Senior Director
